A New Life: Naruto Style!
by Inner Dragon2007
Summary: When Kiyoshi gets sucked into Konoha from the Naruto world, what's the most logical thing to do? Learn to live it to the fullest and try not to get killed, of course! Kiyoshi is my OC! Please don't copy him or my other OCs!
1. Who am I? What am I?

The beginning of a different look toward Naruto fanfics! I decided to take a different appoarch and bring in my own creation who has to learn how to adjust to life in Naruto! He's just your average, 16-year-old kid who somehow gets sucked into Naruto and now he has to learn how to adjust to his new life as a Narurto character. Oh, just so you all know, this takes place in the Naruto Shippuden series. They're about 15 or 16 in this series right? Please correst me if I'm wrong! 

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A New Life: Naruto Style!

"_I've been having these weird thoughts lately…_

_Like is any of this for real…or not…?"_

-Sora of Kingdom Hearts

"_Ugh, my aching head…i-it is like I can't move…Then again maybe I shouldn't move_." These thoughts were going through the head of a young 16-year-old boy with bluish-silver hair as he laid there in the middle forest with nothing but its animals that seemed to watch him in the morning shadows. But the dangers of the forest were the last thing on his mind; heck, he didn't even know that he was in the middle of a flourishing, thick tree covered forest and he wasn't planning on opening his eyes to see. His whole body was in deep pain and his brain was in some kind of pain, like he was trying to remember something. _"Heck if I can…maybe I should just go to sleep and-"_ Those thoughts got completely interrupted by a wet tongue suddenly licking his face and he felt himself being covered in a lot of dog slobber. _"I'm going to need a bath after this. Assuming that it doesn't eat me, that is." _He slowly opened his eyes and saw a huge white dog looking at him with a happy dog expression as its tongue hung loosely out of his mouth and its tail wagged rapidly when the boy completely opened his eyes and stared blankly at the dog. "A...Akamaru," the boy said in disbelief. "_There's no way this could be Akamaru! That dog's from that Naruto anime my friend and I watch every night!" _Another slobbery lick put all the boy's doubts away; he jumped up in alarm and started to panic a little. "What the heck am I doing in Konoha!? Ugh, Stupid body!" The boy now groaned again when his body failed to keep him up and went back on his back to rest. Akamaru whined worriedly and licked the boy again, causing him to laugh this time. "It's okay Akamaru, I'm fine. My body just feels a little sore that's all." The boy tried to convince Akamaru he was fine, but right now he could barely sit up, much less stand. Akamaru looked unconvinced as it cocked its head at him. Then he suddenly barked happily and darted away, leaving the boy behind alone in the forest's clearing. "Wait! Don't leave me Akamaru!" He tried his hardest to call Akamaru back but the dog was long gone by that time. The boy once again tried to stand up and follow Akamaru but he only succeed on leaning tree after a few determined steps. "I said I was fine, I didn't say leave me alone here," groaned the boy to himself. He sighed as he felt his knees gave up on him and made him crash to the ground. This didn't feel any different from his life back home; everyone always gave up on him and left him alone. He didn't have anyone to rely on his whole life. There was his grandfather… but he died a month ago. "_Why did you have to leave me behind, Grandpa_?" He felt tears start to sting his eyes and quickly wiped them away, standing up as tall as he could, no matter how much his knees ached. "No…my Grandpa didn't leave me without anything…I-I still have that sword from back home," He said to himself and subconsciously pretended to touch the sword's handle…which was actually strapped to his side. "WHAT THE FU-OW!" He was about to swear in surprise as he jumped up again, but he had hit his head hard on the branch above his head. He mumbled a couple of words under his breath and looked to his side, wondering whether his hands played a trick on him. No trick; the katana had somehow gotten strapped firmly to his side. Its rock hard, coal black sheath, the hand-craved sapphire handle and the Yin and Yang emblems that were separate from each other but were chained by a silver, clean chain tightly to the handle; it really was with him. Somehow, but he could care less at this point; as long as he was here, he might a well go to Konoha and try to sort what the heck was happening. "_But first, I have to know this is really Grandpa's genuine, hand-made sword he made for me_," The boy thought as he grabbed a long, sturdy tree branch for support, ready to look after himself, like he had always done. He slowly unsheathed the sword and stared in awe at the diamond blade that gleamed when the sun's rays reached the sharp, well kept katana. Written in golden was a word.

"Kiyoshi"

"Well, that's my name for sure." Kiyoshi sighed to himself a little uneasily. "_I don't like this…I can't remember anything beyond the death of Grandpa and the stuff about Naruto [Which is just plain weird. Could this be a form of amnesia?" _He looked at the faraway gate to Konoha. "Thinking about it now won't help me now. I just hope I can get into Konoha without a fight." Kiyoshi thought about for a moment and sighed. "Doubt it; I might have to fight to make my way in. Better be careful." He slowly began to limp toward the gateway, hoping not to get caught…

But Kiyoshi was so focus on the gate that he didn't notice that where his one teardrop fell a silvery orb began to form under the trees' shadow. Even a highly skilled ninja wouldn't have been able to see what had taken form in the shadows now, though its golden eyes and its body's enormous outline was very unnerving, even in the shadows. It stared intently at the wounded but determined fighter limp toward the gates; its mouth formed into a sharp fanged smirk. "Such pain…yet such a strong willpower to live. I'm impressed you managed to summon me at all young one…But in your condition, you will not get passed the guards without a little help." Its smirk widened even more to see that Kiyoshi had let go of the stick and was now sprinting away with extraordinary speed. "Then again, I think it would be more fun to watch how you will handle yourself." It leapt agilely from tree to tree along side Kiyoshi, but at the same time, well hidden in the shadows. "I like your powerful spirit young one. I'll stand down until you truly need me. As for the person who tries to hurt you." Its eyes gleamed very roguishly at the thought. "I'll have to thank them for the workout. But why don't you handle things until then, my new Lord…"

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And that's it! Sorry if the first chapters a little short [I'm still a little new at this --;;. But I promise, I'll make the next chapter longer! But I want to know what you all think so far. Oh, and the name of the ramen shop owners that Naruto always always eats at. I want to see if they have names. Please review 


	2. A Taste of Kindness A Fight of Hope

**FINALLY! The second chapter! This time I made it a lot longer than the first one. But Sheesh, it took so long! Still, I think I'm pretty goodit I do say so myself. Now, just enjoy it and give opinions!**

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"_Looks like I was right; the gate is guarded_," Kiyoshi thought to himself silently. Down below from a tall green leafed tree he was in, Kiyoshi saw two ninjas sitting on a stand near the gate. They were watching the gate intently but Kiyoshi was able to pick up two other emotions; anxiety and restlessness. He saw them talk and quickly began to listen to see just what was going on. "Hey do you think that everyone's alright? They have been gone for a while now," one of the men told his friend right next to him.

Kiyoshi's eyes looked closer at these two with his critical-bearing eyes and slowly he smiled to himself in realization. "_These two are the teachers from the chunin exams in the old Naruto. Looks like watching anime wasn't a complete waste of time after all." _He continued to listen closely to the conversation, just in case there was information he could use, when he suddenly saw something running toward the gate; he took a few steps till he was toward the trunk of the tree, staring a little nervously at the distance. If there was one thing Kiyoshi wanted more than anything at this point was a kunai, or a ninja star; he'd even settle for a huge toad or snail, which he thought were pointless summoning jutsus in the first place. But NO! He was stuck in a tree with nothing but the katana from his grandpa and his wits. And in a place like Konoha, that wasn't exactly enough to help him. "Please don't be sound ninjas, the Akatsuki, or Oorchimaru. Or Tsunade; she'll probably either see me as a enemy or ask me question that I'll have to give crazy answers for," Kiyoshi mumbled under his breath as he crossed his fingers with one hand and brushed the handle of his katana with the other, just in case. He watched the incoming dust storm come toward the gate along with the two ninjas and then as the dust settled, Kiyoshi heard those famous words. "GAI SENSAI, YOU'RE THE GREATEST! YOU CAME IN FIRST JUST LIKE LAST TIME! I PROMISE I'LL RUN 500 LAPS AROUND KONOHA IN YOUR HONOR!" Kiyoshi did an anime fall when he realized who had just appeared in front of Konoha's gate. _"I can't believe I got nervous over these two morons. Gai and Lee, of all people_!" Kiyoshi stopped wallowing in self humiliation and saw quickly that the ninjas were somewhat distracted by the two; this was his only chance to get inside without being noticed. But he never really leapt over a gate before; trees, sure, but not a gate and by the looks of it, if he missed, he'd get caught easily. But Kiyoshi narrowed his eyes and got ready to spring off the branch with all the might he had; if there was one he learned from living with his grandpa and two best friends was "What's life without taking your chances." Kiyoshi kept a steady gaze on the gate, only looking down to see how long the branch was. Luckily, it was decently long enough for him to run across; but that's actually where all the luck ended. The branch was somewhat flimsy and it looked like one false move would cause it to break under his weight. Kiyoshi sighed to himself in exasperation; what a way to start his first day. "_No problem though; All I have to do is run fast enough and get a good jump by the time I reach the end of the branch. Hopefully it's as easy as it sounds_," Kiyoshi thought to himself as he crouched a little and, without any second thoughts, he ran nimbly across the branch, brushing his fingers against an emblem that was on a thin yet firmly linked together, chain necklace for luck. "_If I don't make it, all I have to say is: What a drag_," Kiyoshi thought while a smirk played across his face as he finally sprang off the tip of the branch. How he managed he still wasn't sure; but the next thing Kiyoshi knew he was gliding over the gate and landed safely on one the roofs of Konoha. But he also heard some people shouting from the gate and knew instantly that he was caught. "Dammit, I can't believe I let myself get caught! Now I have to hid somewhere in the village." Kiyoshi leapt down from the roof, into the alley, where he hid in the shadows as he saw some ninjas, including the two guards at the gate, ran by in a hurry. Kiyoshi stared in disbelief at the small group of ninjas that had ran by; there was no way that they could've already gathered ninjas to start a search. "_That means, I'm not the only one who snuck inside Konoha; so they didn't really see me, they saw someone else going through the gates. Then again, they could've probably saw me too; I'll have to be careful_," Kiyoshi thought silently. Then a thought came across his mind; there were awfully a lot of ninjas that had ran past him. What could be so huge that they needed such a large number of ninjas to capture the person? Kiyoshi snapped out of his thoughts and quickly left the moment that the group was gone; he might as well get going before the next group came, tucking his emblem in his shirt as he walked toward a ramen shop. But once again, he didn't notice the large creature in the shadows, as it looked at him a little grimly; it watched two feathers, one black and one white, float to the ground and disappear like it was made of mist. It slightly smiled a little at the sight of these feathers in pleasure. "_You really don't take your chances, do you,"_ The creature thought to itself as it looked gently at the boy now. "You… remind me of someone from long ago… a man who had to earn his leadership and the respect from his people the hard way, just as someone else is trying to do now." A gentle smile came across its hidden face as it watched him run toward a ramen shop. "Maybe you and that boy are destined to meet each other; I get the feeling that you two will help each other well." Suddenly the creature stared to see six large men going into the shop as well; and they were carrying large knives with them. The creature's fur rose the moment it saw them taking a step in the shop and growled lowly. "But it appears that someone's trying to test my tolerance." A large black striped, white paw came through from the shadows and the moment it touched the ground, sword-like, pitch black claws appeared. Soon it took another silent step forward toward the ramen shop…

Kiyoshi sat hidden in one of the corner seats, listening to everyone talk about random day-to-day things with friends. Some people looked curiously at the worn out teen in the shop, but didn't make much of an effort to approach him; he looked like he didn't want to be disturbed by anyone. Kiyoshi continued to watch the people go to and fro of the ramen shop and before long, he slightly began to smile; half of him liked the light-heartedness and harmony of the leaf village. But then again, he hated the fact that people would fear anyone born in the village for being a different or make fun of those who they considered failures, like Rock Lee, Naruto, and Choji. "Um excuse me; do you want anything to eat?

Kiyoshi snapped out of his thoughts and turned to a brown haired lady, probably 20, in a white apron looking at him with a sweet natured smile as she held a notepad in her hand. A handkerchief covered some of her hair. "I don't have any money. You could say… I had to come here; I didn't have any other options."

The lady looked at him in surprise. "Doesn't your family give you money to get food?"  
Kiyoshi turned his face away from her. "I don't have a family anymore." Kiyoshi stood up and turned back to the lady again. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I'll leave right away." Kiyoshi took a step forward only to be seated down by the woman again.

"No, that's okay." She sniffled a little and wiped some tears that were threatening to fall. "In fact, since you're new here why don't you let us treat you with no charge?"

Kiyoshi looked at her with surprise. "I can't do that! I should pay just like everyone else! I really don't want to trouble you!"  
The lady smiled widely when she heard this. "Nope, I'm not taking 'no' as an answer. So you might as well take the offer. Besides, your stomach is telling me something else." The lady giggled a little when she heard Kiyoshi's stomach growl lowly. When Kiyoshi didn't object again, she went to a man and said some stuff quietly. At first the man looked surprised and questioningly at the young lady but his expression softened sympathetically as the lady continued. Then he had asked her a question and she pointed at Kiyoshi's seat. Kiyoshi shyly waved at the man and the older man smiled a little, going into a kitchen after that. "_Wow…I'm not really used to being worried over by complete strangers. But they look like good people; my grandpa did tell me that I had that special ability to see people for who they are_." Not long after the man came with the lady and placed a bowl of pork ramen in front of him and handed some chopsticks to Kiyoshi. He looked at the man and lady to the bowl of ramen, and he just let his stomach react for him; what, he was hungry people! He slowly slurped up the noodles and his eyes somewhat lit up like a little kid's as he continued to eat the noodles, a little more fast but still meekly. Kiyoshi finished it all off by sipping the rest up and couldn't help but smile a little at the two. "This is really good; my compliments to the chef," Kiyoshi said.

The man smiled proudly when he heard Kiyoshi say this. "Well, then thank you! No one around here besides Naruto tells me how good my ramen is! You really are new around here." When Kiyoshi's stomach growled again and made him blush a little in embarrassment, the man laughed as he took the bowl. "Looks like your stomach wants to be feed some more, though! Guess you didn't eat anything since you came here. Don't worry; I'll just give you a free refill for today." He stopped for a moment when he was near the kitchen. "Y'know, you're kind of like Naruto, just not as hyper. But I get the feeling you two will be great friends. He's comes to the shop around this time; why don't you wait to meet him?" With that, the man went into the kitchen to refill the bowl. Kiyoshi smiled a little to himself. Meet Naruto; that would definitely be an interesting experience. Kiyoshi chuckled a little to himself.

"CRASH!"

Kiyoshi looked in alarm the moment he heard a bowl hit the floor and saw a group of large men standing around the table. And one of them was advancing toward the lady from earlier! Kiyoshi's eyes narrowed immediately when he saw that the lady didn't like his advances and quietly snuck toward a bowl of hot ramen. "C'mon baby! Don't be like that," The advancing man had said to the lady; Kiyoshi could just see the perverted smile under the piece of cloth that covered his mouth. Again the lady backed away from the man, literally giving the guy a glare that told him to back off. That made man frown but he was soon encouraged by the other men who were shouting things like "Go get her boss," and "Use yer charm on her!" "Listen baby, why don't you leave this dump and come back to my place? We both could have the room all to our-YOWCH!" The man yelped the moment he felt something burning hot pour down his back. And there was a lot of it going down! "WHO THE HELL DID THAT!? I SWEAR I'M GONNA KILL THAT TEME WHEN I, DAIKON THE GREAT, GET MY-"

"Yo genius, turn around."

The man angrily turned to see Kiyoshi standing in front of the lady with a really wide, cat-like smirk across his face; he was holding a large ramen bowl in one hand. "So, you want your death wish granted early, eh kid? Just be honored you'll die at the hands of Daikon, the greatest rogue ninja of all time!"

Kiyoshi looked at this guy for a moment like he was stupid and then he gently whispered something in the lady's ear. She looked a little unsure but Kiyoshi's eyes urged her to go, so she did. Once she was gone to the kitchen with the man, Kiyoshi calmly put the bowl that he had down and turned back to the man again, this time with a wider smirk as he began to walk outside.

"HEY, DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME," Daikon shouted angrily.

Kiyoshi looked back at him and rolled his eyes. "You want to fight me right? Well, we should at least have some room to attack each other and make it easier on both of us." His eyes flashed impishly when he saw the man alarmed. "Unless you're afraid to fight a 'Kid' Daikon." That made the man furious and he, along with the rest of the group, went to go outside, making sure to push an old lady, who Kiyoshi quickly caught, while they were at it. "You don't need to do this; you're going to get yourself hurt," an old lady said anxiously as Kiyoshi helped her to her feet.

"I know, but I really do owe those two for everything; they're one of the few people who treated me like a human being. Hopefully they can get some ninjas there before someone gets hurt." He turned to the old lady a little worriedly. "Make sure you don't go near our fight. I don't think they'll hesitate to attack a old lady." With that Kiyoshi ran out of the ramen shop, leaving the old lady smiling a little to herself. "For someone so quiet, he seems a little like Naruto." She frowned slightly when she saw Kiyoshi getting ready to fight the large ninja, who had a very large dagger hidden in his pants. "But I don't think you'll get far trying to fight with your bare hands alone." The old lady immediately did hand signs and went to get help for the strange, new arrival…

"So, are there any rules I should know of or do you guys have no morals at all," Kiyoshi asked sarcastically, watching Daikon crack his neck. By the time both had gotten outside, there was a crowd surrounding them. Obviously, they didn't see the seriousness of the situation; Kiyoshi couldn't help roll his eyes at the overly battle excited people.

"Hey, how dare you say that I, the Great Daikon, don't have morals!" He took off his cape and threw it in the air; obviously trying to act cool, but it flew in his face by mistake. "Augh, I can't see! Get this thing off of me!" The other men quickly came to his aid, though a little clumsily. A few people were laughing at this circus-like group; even Kiyoshi had to snicker a little at these strange people. "Please welcome Baka hood and his band of stupid men," Kiyoshi accidentally said aloud, causing practically every person fall on the ground laughing.

The man growled angrily as he threw off his men and threw a kunai at Kiyoshi's feet. "Okay brat, these are the rules; no other weapon besides the kunai at your feet and you can't get a person from the crowd to help you either. The last one breathing wins. Got that pretty boy," Daikon snarled between gritted teeth as Kiyoshi gingerly picked up the ninja knife, observing it a little.

"Um, I have one question though," Kiyoshi said with a slightly cocked head as he held the kunai in his hand tightly.

Daikon smirked a little in pride. "Are you going to ask me how to beg for mercy?"

"No, I just wanted to know how I'm supposed take this fight seriously. I mean, you couldn't even get a cape of yourself without those guys. And what's your name supposed to do; I can't take anyone named after a veggie very seriously," Kiyoshi answered bluntly. Everyone was now crying in laughter; even some of Daikon's men were laughing their butts off. Kiyoshi stood there a little blankly as he saw Daikon shiver in anger; all he did was ask a question, but Daikon wasn't answering it. "YOU'RE GONNA DIE, YOU LITTLE TEME!" Without much warning, Daikon charged at Kiyoshi and tried to slit his throat. But Kiyoshi just stood there, waiting patiently for Daikon until he was close enough. Kiyoshi's eyes flashed a sudden blood-red color and he grabbed Daikon's forearm, twisting it to his back. Daikon growled a little but immediately stayed shut the moment he felt the sharp cold metal of the kunai very close to his throat; Kiyoshi had managed to grab the kunai before he had completely turned around to Daikon's back. He pressed the kunai a little closer to his neck and felt Daikon shiver fearfully as Kiyoshi's other hand held him, causing Daikon to be pinned to the ground. Kiyoshi was very quiet as he continued to feel Daikon shiver in fear for 10 minutes and suddenly his eyes turned a light blue; he lightly scratched Daikon's throat, letting a few drops of blood fall on the blade, and released his grip on the older man. He got off of Daikon's back and stared down at him with a look that made Daikon even more furious; Pity. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!? I'M STILL BREATHING! I DON'T WANT ANY MERCY FROM SOME 14-YEAR-OLD," Daikon said as he tried to stand up, still a little shaken from the boy's sudden show of power.

Kiyoshi looked back at the man and just shook his head. "First of all, I'm 16; get that right. And second of all, my grandfather taught me not to kill cowards." He looked down at Daikon again, his eyes changing into a dark intimidating indigo. "You rely too much on your men, so you are both weak in body and spirit; fight me again when you get stronger," Kiyoshi added the words that a man had taught him before, walking away calmly; Kiyoshi, at least, felt that the fight was over the moment he had proven his point. But he soon realized that turning away from Daikon was a big mistake. A sudden sharp pain came to his arm, causing Kiyoshi to yell as he fell to the ground, breathing heavily in agony. The pain was blinding; so blinding, that Kiyoshi thought he was going to faint right then and there. But he clenched his teeth together and put his hand near his arm, where he felt some things stabbed deep in his arm. He grabbed it and yanked it out as hard and fast as he could; by that time Kiyoshi was in so much pain that his whole body felt numb. What he saw seemed to fuel his anger even more; a kunai, along with two needles, were resting at the palm of his hand. Worst of all, was the fact that these were most likely poisoned. As if he read Kiyoshi's mind, Daikon began to laugh at the now weakened boy. "Yep brat, there's poison in them alright! That's what you get for being so cocky in the first place!" Kiyoshi heard Daikon's feet shuffle a little as he turned to his men. "Um… D-Daikon, don't you think you went a little too far? It's a kid, for crying out loud," One of Daikon's men, a white bearded one, said a little uneasily; Kiyoshi could just feel the sorry stares that the man, along with the crowd, were giving him as he cringed a little in pain as he continued to keep a tight grip on the weapons as he laid on the floor.

Daikon's voice rose into a type of snarl. "That brat got what he deserved. No worthless failure like that has the right to call a superior like me a coward."

Kiyoshi's body stiffened when that word passed through that man's lips.

"_Worthless failure"_

Kiyoshi stopped shivering and clutched the three weapons in his hand even tighter than ever as he slowly picked himself off the ground and turned toward Daikon's direction; his head faced toward the ground and his arms swung from side to side a little. "Um, Daikon, I don't think that the fight's over; the kid's standing up," The white bearded man said as he pointed to Kiyoshi's direction.

Daikon slowly turned around and saw what his man said was true; the boy, who he had expected to stay on the ground, was standing just a foot away from him. This made him a little uneasy, but Daikon wasn't about to show fear toward a boy like this. "So what, you want to say something?"

Kiyoshi didn't respond.

This made Daikon get a little confidence. "Or do you really want to ask for mercy now?"

He STILL didn't respond, but he did take one step forward; Daikon was just too absorbed in fake triumphant pride to notice.

"I just may give you the antidote for all that poison in you… IF you bow down to your superior and beg for forgiveness," Daikon said smugly, showing Kiyoshi a vial of pink liquid.

Now Kiyoshi responded to that! He ran so fast that it startled Daikon and caught him off guard; no one should be able to move like that, especially someone so badly poison! By the time Daikon had gotten ready to react it was too late; Kiyoshi had gotten behind him and had stabbed him so fiercely on his arm, knocking over the vial while he was at it. Kiyoshi was very uneasy as he did this; he had gotten into a few fights before, but he never used a weapon to hurt the person; it didn't help that the smell of the blood made him want to throw up. He didn't notice Daikon's men behind him, but he felt himself being thrown away from Daikon. Kiyoshi slid across the dirt ground and with the opened wound on his arm, it didn't ease the pain. He was so badly injured by this time but he still managed to get back on his feet, coughing a little blood out as he stood up firmly.

"ARE YOU INSANE!? THAT WAS THE ONLY VIAL THAT COULD CURE THE POISON," Daikon yelled in alarm, panicking a little when he saw that the weapons that he had used against Kiyoshi were on his arm. But if he thought that was alarming, the moment Kiyoshi lifted his head to look at straight at him was down right terrifying; instead of the calm sapphire colored his eyes normally were it was blood red; they now resembled the ones of a cat completely.

Kiyoshi noticed Daikon's terrified expression and smirked. "At least it makes the fight even. What's the matter you look like you see a monster." The smirk was soon replaced with a very angry scowl. "Normally, I would've just walked away from spineless cowards like you, but for you to go so low that you would call people 'worthless failures'… Just who do you think you are?! Every life has a purpose in this world; no matter how different we are from each other, it doesn't mean that our lives aren't worth anything! I hate people who think that they have the right to look down on everyone, especially if their different from them! That is so sick and twisted in a way I can't describe." Kiyoshi didn't notice a large, shadowy creature smiling down at him from one of the roofs or the ashamed faces that the adults had on their faces as he took out his kunai. "Made you need to be taught a lesson. Let's see what you got against a 'Failure' like me; c'mon you spineless coward," Kiyoshi said in a dangerous, low snarl.

"K-Kid, you don't need to do this! It's not worth fighting for; you're too wounded as it is," a man from the crowd called anxiously.

Kiyoshi shoot him a spine-chilling glare. "Stay out of this! It's me and him now; I don't care if I get kicked out of here just for fighting for what I believe in! I've been hurt more than this before anyway!" When the man didn't call him again Kiyoshi turned his attention back to Daikon; his calm but deadly blood eyes made Daikon very nervous. "Now that there aren't anymore objections, let's get this over with.

Daikon watched Kiyoshi get into a battle stance and took a step back; this time, he could tell Kiyoshi was dead serious. "Y-YOU MONSTER!"

Kiyoshi looked at Daikon quietly and his eyes flashed dangerously again. "Maybe I am a monster; but that doesn't change the tide of battle. Let me show you how strong a 'monster failure' could truly be," Kiyoshi shouted as he got ready to strike.

Then they all heard the roar

Kiyoshi looked up on the roof and saw the large creature for the first time; it was the largest white tiger that he had ever seen, assuming it was one in the first place. The way its stripes were formed, the odd emblem marks on its shoulder blades, the immense size, its saber tooth-like teeth; that was definitely NOT your run-of-the-mill tiger at all. The tiger notice that Kiyoshi's gaze had came toward it and grinned a sharp fanged grin again. It looked toward the sky and roared again, leaping down to Kiyoshi's side. It turned to take a closer look at Kiyoshi and saw the deep wound on his arm, which seemed to make it furious for some reason. Its muscles were flexed as it snarled at the group of men; it had obviously could smell the scent of Daikon mixing with the blood. _"Do you want me to teach them a lesson,"_ it growled to him almost eagerly, its eyes glinting at the very thought of battle.

Kiyoshi looked at the tiger the moment he had heard the voice and figured out its gender when he heard the melody-like voice; a girl and it was very hot blooded by the sound of it. He walked cautiously toward the tiger and rested his good hand at the side of its fur face, which was surprisingly soft yet rough at the same time; the tiger purred deeply as his hand gently stroke the side of her face. "Do what you want, but leave me some fighting," Kiyoshi said calmly as he began to stroke her neck soothingly, causing her to purr louder.

By this time, Daikon was terrified out of his mind! This boy couldn't be human; not only was he standing, even with all that poison inside him, but he looked like he was taming the large tiger that stood protectively next to him. "I-If you think some big alley cat's gonna stop this fight then you wrong," Daikon growled angrily.

The tiger look toward him and hiss lowly; she had seen his hand twitch toward his weapon. "_Now do I fight_," she asked Kiyoshi. He looked at her calmly as he continued to stroke her neck calmly. "Not yet… Why don't you tell me your name while you're at it? I think I should know who I'm fighting alongside with," Kiyoshi said with a small smile.

The tiger smiled a little at this question. "_You may call me Akari, Young Master_."

Kiyoshi looked at Akari a little blankly. "Young Master? That's gonna take a long time to get used to."

The white tiger chuckled a little at the child-like expression; this boy sure was something. But while the two were chatting to each other casually, Daikon was getting more anxious and angry by the minute; the beast and boy were just standing and talking as though he wasn't even there. They didn't seem the least bit worried. "How dare you ignore me in the middle of a battle! You've made a fool of me for the last time," Daikon snarled angrily as he called his men angrily to him. They all quickly went to his sides [except for the white bearded man and got into fighting stances, kunai and shurikans held in each hand.

Akari kept a steady on the group of men but didn't move; Kiyoshi had ordered her not to yet. Still, it didn't hurt to ask. "_NOW do I fight_," she asked eagerly.

Kiyoshi closed his eyes as he continued to smile. "Yeah, let's get this over with already. Just don't kill anyone."

Akari frowned playfully. _"Now, you're just taking the fun out of everything." _Kiyoshi just chuckled and gentle patted the neck once. Right at that signal, Akari snarled and was upon the group of men in seconds. They all didn't stand a chance; the tiger was brutally strong and extremely fast and Kiyoshi was quite a threat by himself, not really needing the aid of Akari that much. It didn't take long for the brawl to end; with the tiger's amazing skills and Kiyoshi's calm demeanor and quick-witted instincts, it wasn't really a surprise. In only a few minutes, Daikon and his men were on the ground in defeat, bruised and utterly weakened. Akari and Kiyoshi still stood, only difference was Akari had not mark to prove that they had used any of their weapons on her [And they did. Kiyoshi didn't get off as easily; there were now even more open wounds on his legs, a few on the chest, and the arm wound he had early was even deeper than before. Akari noticed the uneven breathing that Kiyoshi struggled to do and fury began to rise again. She walked toward Daikon and placed his head between her dangerous jaws. "Didn't I tell you no killing?"

Akari flipped her ear toward the sound of Kiyoshi's voice and dropped Daikon's head; although he didn't yell, she could tell that he wasn't too happy about her motives. _"Why are you protecting someone who nearly killed you; he may come after you again_," Akari told him with a slight scowl.

Kiyoshi looked down at the weakened group and straight at Akari's eyes; once again, his eyes changed, this time to a soothing olive color. "I'm not protecting him, but killing him isn't worth it either. I've proven my point; failures have a worth in this world and I know that it's a lesson he's not gonna forget easily. Besides, it's not right to kill someone without having a good reason, and I don't mean revenge either. Besides, I don't really think killing a coward will be worth anything," Kiyoshi added with a weak smirk.

Akari looked a little taken aback but just sighed slightly and walked toward him. "_You're too soft for your own good, you know that?"_

Kiyoshi slightly chuckled as he felt himself losing consciousness and fall to the ground; the battle took all the strength he had to fight back. Now he could feel the poison taking effect. "Kiyoshi!" He heard Akari's alarmed voice as he saw her run anxiously toward him. "I'm…I'm sorry…Naomi," Kiyoshi thought to himself as his vision became blurry. The rest was all a fading part. But he could've sworn he saw some other people standing over him, one saying, "I can't Believe It!..."

* * *

Well, that's the end of this chapter. I bet I left questions like 'who's Naomi' and 'why can Kiyoshi understand the tiger'. Though I think I made it kind of obvious who was standing over him! If you don't know... Good back and watch Naruto. 

Kiyoshi: You know, I personally think that it's the most corniest joke you ever came up with** --**

ID: Hey, if I feel like saying something corny then I'm saying it!

Kiyoshi: You say everything without thinking. It worries me someimes.

ID: Awwww, you care about me! You really care about me!

Kiyoshi: Um, you created me, I'm supposed to care.

ID: Good point. Well do you want to do the honors?

Kiyoshi:...I have to, don't I?

ID: Just for this chapter for now. Remember; you're the main host!

Kiyoshi: Okay then, Make sure to read chapter 3 "Do you Really want to know?" How was that?

ID: Yay, go Kiyoshi! Oh, don't forget to review your opinions on the story and the characters so far. Oh, and some advice while everyone's at it! Bye!

Kiyoshi: Yeah, see yeah.

ID: Can't you be more hyper?


	3. Why should I trust you?

**Yeah, I know, It took me a while, huh? I'm sorry! Oh well, I 'm back and here's the third chapter! Please enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Why should I trust You

"Hey, isn't he awake yet!?"  
"Naruto, stop shouting! He got in the middle of a brawl and you expect him to be awake with his wounds!?"

"I thought that 3 days were enough for a ninja!" BAM! "Ow! Why'd you do that Sakura?"

"HE'S NOT A NINJA, BAKA! NOW LET HIM REST!"

"…_.I don't think I could rest even if I tried at the moment….Wait, I've been out for 3 days? Where am I?_" Kiyoshi didn't move an inch from where ever he was laying on but he couldn't really go back to sleep either; it seemed like Naruto and Sakura were in the room he was in too. And they sure were making a fuss about it. _"Why am I in a room with noisy, noisy people,"_ Kiyoshi groaned silently in his head.

**"_You should actually be grateful. If it hadn't for these 'noisy people' you probably would be dead by now."_**

"…_Akari?…Is that you? Where are you_," Kiyoshi asked through his thoughts as he was about to open his eyes; he was happy to at least hear ONE familiar voice at the moment.

**"_Don't move yet. It'll be better if you can understand the situation you're in from them,"_** Akari hissed urgently.

Kiyoshi did as he was told and kept his eyes closed. But that didn't mean he was going to stop asking some questions. "_So…this isn't a dream, is it?"_

**"_What makes you think this is all a dream? The wounds seem real enough as it is."_** Kiyoshi couldn't see Akari but her voice was really heavy with sarcasm.

"_I guess you're right."_ Kiyoshi laughed inwardly along with his tiger friend at the joke. But there was something that surprised him. _"Hey Akari…how can I hear you?"_

"_**Remember when I called you 'Young Master'? Well I meant it; my original owner had died…but you ended up summoning me from my long slumber. The moment you did this, I felt something, what's the right word…unique that separated you from normal people. It's sort of 'otherworldly' in a way. The moment I felt that strong connection with you, I knew that you were my newest Lord."**_

Kiyoshi slightly cocked an eyebrow for the tiger. _"How could you be so sure it's me? There are better fighters out there than me. Heck, I don't even have a single clue about being a ninja. So…Why?"_

Akari gave him a simple, casual answer. _"**We summon beast know who are owners are from the moment we lay eyes on them. You could say it's an imprint on our hearts that bond us to humans with great potential. Even now, this simple talking is proof enough that we are destined partners; only certain people can hear us…and for the record, you are quite an impressive fighter even though you aren't a ninja,"** _She added with a gentle chuckle.

Kiyoshi wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Being with in the Naruto world was bad enough; but having a tiger follow your every move and obey your every request...well, at least it would probably help to have a familiar in the Konoha. _"Akari…can I ask for a favor then?"_

**"_Anything you want Lord Kiyoshi; I will do all in my power to fulfill your wish_,"** Akari said in reply.

Kiyoshi slightly scowled in disapproval. _"Don't call me Lord; I'm no different than you are. That's my first order."_

Akari chuckled softly to herself; she had a feeling he was going to say that_. "**As you wish, Kiyoshi. What is your other request?"**_

"_Well, what happened when I was unconscious?"_

Akari was silent for a while when he had asked her this. _**"…To be honest, it looked nearly impossible that you were going to recover at all. The poison…was finally taking affect."**_ Kiyoshi felt the tiger hang her head in shame. _**"I would be lying if I said I didn't feel responsible for the condition you were in…"**_

"…_It's not your fault; I was the one who wanted to fight them with you in the first place. We did win though, right?"_

**"_Yes."_**

"_Then I'm happy,"_ Kiyoshi told her a little cheerfully.

Akari laughed a little half-heartedly from his slightly smug remark. "_**As I was saying, the two ramen shop owners had ran out of the shop and tried to clean your wounds; I also helped as much as I could. But we couldn't get the poison completely out and that's where most of the danger was. A few moments later, Lady Tsunade and some chunins had come when they had heard you were injured badly."**_ Akari growled lowly as she continued. _**"In my opinion, they came a little too soon for people who had just heard about the fight. But, with the condition you were in, it wasn't a time to argue about it; we had to take our chances with those ninjas. That's pretty much it; you've been out for three moons and Tsunade had been taking care of you once in a while."**_

"_I see."_ Kiyoshi wasn't sure about the limits of Akari's abilities, but he decided to test them out now. _"Akari…can you kind of sight share with me?"_

Akari seemed a little confused about this question. _"**Sight share? I never hear of that before."**_

It looked like he was going to have to find another way to explain. _"I mean, can you show me what you are seeing through your eyes; I know you're somewhere nearby."_

Akari scoffed a little when Kiyoshi had explained what he meant. _**"You should've just said Inner Knowing; it would've been easier to understand."**_

"_Inner Knowing?"_

Akari sighed in exasperation. _"**Inner Knowing is pretty much me sharing my sight with you. Thing is, you 'see' what I do without opening your eyes. I would've thought you knew that already**._

Kiyoshi glared a little in his mind. _"Just show me already."_

Akari was very alarmed. _"**In order for it to happen, you have to transfer some of your chakra to me. You're in no condition to do that**__**!"  
**__"I can handle it,"_ Kiyoshi answered quickly.

**"_You were in the middle of a fight; you were lucky you are alive now__,"_** She snarled menacingly.

"_I've been through worse,"_ He countered back.

**"_Are you trying to get yourself killed!? Who knows what will happen if you perform Inner Knowing!"_**

"_I'm fine! Just do it already." _Kiyoshi growled a little in irritation.

**"_You're just going to hurt yourself__,"_** Akari roared furiously.

Kiyoshi sighed; he didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. "_You said that you have to obey my every request; now I request that we perform Inner Knowing!"_

There was a very long pause after that remark he made; Akari obviously wasn't expecting him to use that to his advantage. But if he was really that determined to perform it… _"Fine then; I hope you are truly are ready for this."_ Kiyoshi wasn't the least bit fazed by her low words; he knew Akari was just trying to get him to change his mind. Once again there was an awkward pause between Kiyoshi and Akari, neither of them backing down from their opinions…

**20 minutes later**

Akari was really getting irritated by now; Kiyoshi hadn't cracked one bit as he waited patiently for her to start. It was actually a little annoying for the white tiger. _**"Kiyoshi,"**_ Akari finally said in boredom after a while of silence.

"_You know I'm not changing my mind_," Kiyoshi simply answered firmly.

Akari sighed tiredly.** _"Trust me; I have first hand experience now. Let's just get this over with; you, amazingly, managed to make me tried."_**

Kiyoshi silently laughed at Akari. _"You have no patience at all, do you?"_ He only heard her grumble a few 'colorful words' under her breath as she began to do some signs with her tail. At first Kiyoshi didn't really feel that different from before. That was, until a sudden sharp pain began to crossing his whole body. He gritted his teeth a little from the pain but didn't let a single sound come out; Akari would surely stop if she knew it was hurting him more than she had expected. It took a while for the pain to leave but it soon subdued a little bit and gave him what he wanted; seeing through Akari's eyes. It was actually a little strange; Akari was watching from a tree high up and, while there were a lot of people walking on the ground, none of them noticed the white tiger at all. Akari seemed to sense his confusion. _"**I can't always be the big, bad tiger you saw three moons ago; it would be very difficult to move around the village without being noticed. So I turned into a tiger cub; most people confuse me for a cat so I don't get caught."**_

"_So you have a fighting form and a compact form,"_ Kiyoshi said with pleased realization.

Akari, however, wasn't very amused. _**"What do I look like to you; a toy?"**_ Kiyoshi simply gave her a not-so-innocent smile. Akari leapt a little closer for Kiyoshi to see who was around him now in the white, hospital-like room. Apparently, while the two were arguing, they hadn't sensed that more people had entered the room and were now talking to each other like it was some kind of hang out. Out of amusement, Kiyoshi decide to play a guessing game to see if he knew each character.

A boy with wild blonde spiky hair and whisker-like marks on his face; he had an orange outfit of some sort: Naruto Uzumaki.

A girl about a year younger than him with pink hair that reminded him about the cherry blossoms back home; Pink must be her favorite because that was the color of her shirt; Sakura Haruno

Another boy, taller than Naruto and in a forest green coat, was staring at his body through pitch black sunglasses; although he couldn't really see his face, Kiyoshi knew who it was: Shino Aburame.

Another boy with wild, dark brown spiky hair, was next to Shino and sniffing Kiyoshi for some reason; he was letting his dog put it's big, white head on Kiyoshi's stomach as it whined occasionally and licked Kiyoshi's face: Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru.

Three other girls were looking at him a little curiously as well. One girl seemed to be examining him, as though trying to figure out if he was friend or foe; her bun style hairdo and the scrolls in her arm instantly told him who she was; Ten-Ten.

A blonde girl was also staring at him, but it looked more like interest than distrust; she was wearing a purple outfit and kind of looked a little stuck-up. But he wasn't one to judge by appearance alone: Ino Yamanaka.

The last girl among them was probably the most timid out of all of them; her violet hair went pasted her shoulders and she looked quietly from a distance, as though making sure she wouldn't get hurt by him: Hinata Hyuga.

Akari turned her head a little more so he could see the rest of the people in the room. To his surprise, he had one other girl he missed; she had long brown hair, a white outfit, and, like Hinata, she kind of looked like she was blind. "_Wait a sec…oops_." Kiyoshi grinned a little sheepishly to himself. _**"**__That is NOT a girl: It's Neji Hyuga."_

**"**_**So you swing THAT way, do you,**"_ Akari butted into his thoughts in laughter.

"_Just finish showing me everyone,"_ Kiyoshi grumbled to her; it wasn't his fault that he had a slow moment.

Akari let it drop and showed him the last three boys. One was like a giant, stuffing his face with chips, another one seemed to be drawing him, and the last one was lying lazily in a nearby chair, probably relaxing or deep in thought: Choji Akimichi, Sai, and Shikamaru Nara. "_Why are they all here,"_ Kiyoshi asked in confusion

**"_If you want to listen that will mean I need some more of your chakra,"_** Akari warned him.

Kiyoshi thought deeply about this; it kind of hurt when he did Inner Knowing and, to be honest, he could was in the same room so listening to them wasn't very hard. But then again, no pain, no game; besides, he had a feeling that he was going to have to get use to using Akari's abilities while he was here. It might come in handy. "_Don't worry about; let me hear from you_."  
There was a slight pause. _"I hope your body can take all of this."_ The tiger sighed softly and did a few more tail signs. Again, Kiyoshi's body was in pain, this time it took longer for the pain to go away. _**"Normally, Inner Knowing lets you have stronger senses, like the animal that is with you. But because of your condition, and the fact you obviously never used your chakra before, I'm only increasing one sense at a time. So you can get a feel of it,"**_ Akari explained while Kiyoshi's chakra entered her body.

"_So, this is only a small taste of what Inner Knowing can really do."_ Kiyoshi added it all up; if Akari had used the full power of the ability on him, his condition would've been worse. A LOT worse.

**"_You are really intelligent for a 16-year old. Are you sure you aren't an ANBU from your village,"_** Akari purred, impressed by the younger male.

"…_How do you know so much about me anyway? We pretty much just met three moons- er, I mean, three days ago."_

Akari chuckled a bit. **"_Once you have me as a partner, I have to know as much about you as I can. You lived somewhere in the mountains filled with cherry blossom trees, you are only 16 winters old; that makes you one of the youngest lord I ever had. You are well known by many people, but not in a good way; they seemed to fear you for some reason. Animals, on the other hand, are extremely fascinated by you and like you a lot from the moment they meet you; you're practically an animal magnet."_**

"_No wonder you came to me_," Kiyoshi said sarcastically.

Akari growled. "_**AS I was saying, you never really knew you're parents because they both seemed to have died when you were too young to really remember them. You lived with two other orphans, one boy a few winters older than you and a girl, who is a few months younger than you. You also…"**_ Akari paused in uncomfortable silence_. **"…You also lived with your Grandfather, who had died recently."**_ Kiyoshi and Akari didn't really talk again after that; it wasn't that Kiyoshi hated that Akari had said what she did. But they both sensed someone else coming into the room.

A young woman with two green dots on her head, holding a Hokage hat in one hand, came into the room and silenced everyone; she looked like a young blonde woman but in this case, appearance was DEFINITELY deceiving; Lady Tsunade.

**"_It appears you will know what's going on now,"_** Akari finally commented in his head. Kiyoshi didn't answer her and began to listen and watch what was happening. As soon as everyone settled down Tsunade walked over to Kiyoshi and placed one of her hands on his forehead, moving away a few stray pieces of hair that were slightly scattered across his face. "He doesn't seem to be in pain. It looks like the poison is completely out now." Tsunade smiled slightly at Kiyoshi for some reason and turned to the group of chunin with a slight frown. "I'm surprised that he's getting rest at all; you all are being pretty loud for people who are 'trying to help him rest'."

Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched his cheek. "Sorry Granny, but everyone wanted to see him for themselves. What's so wrong with that?"

Sakura looked like she was about to shout and hit Naruto but she took one look at Kiyoshi and controlled herself the best she could. "Maybe, it because he isn't a display to show off, baka," She said through gritted teeth and a clenched fist; she looked like she was trying REALLY hard to control the urge to hit him. She paused for a moment and added, "Besides, we don't really know if he's friend or an enemy; wasn't he the guy who leapt over the gate with a tiger?" Kiyoshi flinched; he didn't expect to be caught so soon. Akari seemed just as alarmed as he was. _**"I didn't expect you to be caught so soon; I thought they would notice me and completely ignore you…then again THOSE did give you away. Anyone would've seen you as long as they were out."**_

"_Those,"_ Kiyoshi asked questioningly. But Akari didn't respond and they both just continued to watch the group. He saw, much to his surprise Naruto a little angry and was surprised to hear what he had to say. "There's no way he's an enemy! He fought against of rogues just to protect the ramen shop! And you should've heard what he was saying! 'Every life has a purpose in this world'; 'I don't care if I get kicked out of here just for fighting for what I believe in'! There's no way he's a bad guy!"

Neji butted in to Naruto's how-can-he-be-so-evil speech with points to the obvious facts. "He could've just done that to get people to trust him. He could be a ninja spy from another village," He had commented coolly.

"_He actually has a point,"_ Kiyoshi said to Akari. He hadn't really thought of it that way.

While he was thinking about that, the tiger did an anime fall out of the branch; he was really asking to get sent out of here, wasn't he? She wanted to shout at him 'If you end up getting kicked out, then you're in deep trouble' but didn't. Instead the both continued to listen to the conversation. Now Tsunade was gently stroking the palm of his hand. "What the heck is she up to?" After a while, Tsunade let his hand drop and turned to Neji with a slight grin. "Neji is right; although he doesn't look it, he's quite a capable fighter." Naruto hung his head sadly. "But Naruto is just as you are; he isn't a ninja of any kind."

"HAH! IN YOUR FACE, NEJI," Naruto yelled in triumph. But then he stopped and looked at Tsunade in confusion. "How can you tell he isn't a ninja?"

"Two reasons. First of all he doesn't have a headband of any sort; that means either he hasn't taken the Chunin Exams or he doesn't live in any village. Secondly," Tsunade added as she looked back at Kiyoshi "it looks like he has never used his chakra for any jutsus before….until now, that is." She slightly glared at a nearby tree and looked back at Kiyoshi with a wry smile. "I know you're using your tiger to watch us. You don't need to use the jutsu if you're just going to hurt yourself. You might as well tell us who you are." Kiyoshi felt himself freeze slightly; although he was impressed with Neji's insight, he knew all too well the dangers of being a trespasser in a ninja village.

Akari sensed him freeze and, without much warning, did some tail signs; the moment she did this, Kiyoshi's body seemed to relax. It was obvious she had undid the jutsu. _**"I should've known she would sense the jutsu."**_ Kiyoshi felt her eyes rest on him as Akari gave him a small, reassuring smile. **_"Do as she tells you; it doesn't seem like they while harm you in the condition you're in."_  
**_"So you want me to take my chances."_ Kiyoshi had said this more like a statement than a question.

**"_We don't have much of a choice either way; they know you are watching them now; you might as well just do it_,"** Akari calmly replied. Kiyoshi paused for a moment; if he showed that he had been awake, what would they see him as? But at the same time, if he continued to pretend that he's unconscious, they would probably think he was up to something. _"Well, might as well get this over with,"_ Kiyoshi mused to himself as he prepared for the worst. He firmly grabbed a bed railing and brought himself up slowly, though he found it odd that he wasn't much pain at all as he did this. Gradually, Kiyoshi opened his eyes and looked at the group of through his own view, though it was any different from looking through Akari. He looked at the group wonderingly; the group stared back at him. He looked at his body; it looked like someone took his shirt off, since the only thing covering his chest were long strips of cloth that were over his wounds and the black muscle shirt that went over it. Kiyoshi notice the blood on it was kind of fading; it seemed he was out for a few days. Kiyoshi lifted his head again and looked at the group; they still hadn't budged from the wall. This caused him to slightly scowl at them; honestly, if they weren't going to say anything, they should've just let him go back to sleep. He waited a few more minutes for them to do something, but nothing happened. Kiyoshi gave them a bored stare, took the sheet from the bed, and put it over himself as he got ready to go back to bed. Just as he was starting to doze off, someone grabbed the sheet and shouted right in his ear, "Hey, don't go back to sleep; we want to ask you some things!" Kiyoshi looked opened one eye at Naruto and slightly smirked, causing Naruto to look at him puzzled. "Why is he smirking?"

Shikamaru, who hadn't moved one inch from the chair, lazily answered, "He did it to get someone to actually say some." He peeked at Kiyoshi through one of his eyes and gave him a laid-back smile. "You don't like being kept waiting if they don't do anything, do you?"

Kiyoshi opened his mouth and…not a single word came out. Kiyoshi grabbed his throat in confusion and tried to talk again, but the only sound that escaped was a tiny 'ah'. "Hey, Granny Tsunade, what's wrong with him? Why isn't he talking," Naruto had asked in bewilderment; he watched as Kiyoshi was trying to say something.

Tsunade walked toward Kiyoshi and lifted her hand; it was surrounded by green light. This caused him to step back uncertainly; he knew that she had the ability to heal. But then there was the fact she could also break a couple of bones in his body with that exact hand at the moment. She was a little surprise by his action and looked at her hand; was he scared of the chakra flow? Tsunade looked at Kiyoshi again, her eyes softening a little bit; she let the chakra stop flowing to her hands and watched him relax. "I'm not trying to hurt you, but I do need to know what's wrong with you." Kiyoshi looked at her with a bit of distrust. "I promise I won't hurt you," Tsunade told him soothingly, almost as though she was talking to a frightened child.

Kiyoshi still looked a little unsure about going toward her. He looked around until he found a nearby pencil and paper. Once he had grabbed the two, Kiyoshi quickly scribbled a couple of words on it and held it up for Tsunade to read.

'Why should I trust you?'

Tsunade looked at the piece of paper for a moment. Then she closed her eyes and smiled in triumph, much to Kiyoshi's surprise. "If I wanted to hurt you so badly, I would've done it while you still had the poison in your body." Kiyoshi was a bit surprised but he laughed silently at her answer; he had heard that one before! He walked toward Tsunade and allowed her hand to once again fill with chakra as she began to touch his throat. Kiyoshi was a bit surprised; he didn't expect Konoha's Hokage to be so gentle with him. After examining it for a while, Tsunade pulled back her hand. "I was afraid of that."

"What do you mean, Lady Tsunade," Sakura asked in confusion. It was actually a little funny; Kiyoshi almost forgot about them

She looked at the group with a frown. "The best time to get a child used to using chakra is when they turn five years old. You guys started training on chakra when you were 5, right?" Everyone nodded. "Well, apparently, no one had taught him the slightest thing about it because his body was straining to release the chakra. Not only that, but because he was using it to enhance his senses, he lost his voice in the process."

"Why?" Kiba looked just as lost as Kiyoshi was.

Tsunade sighed. "In order for someone to increase their senses, they have to combine it all together. But if it's your first time, you have to give up one thing; in his case, he gave up his voice without realizing it." She noticed Kiyoshi's startled expression as she had said this. "It doesn't mean you won't be able to talk ever again; it just means that it'll take a while for your voice to return."

Kiyoshi sighed in silent relief. "_Well, I guess its okay then…hey, wait a minute._" Kiyoshi quickly a paper and wrote again. He held the sentence up for Tsunade to read again.

'How long will it take?'

"Probably about a week or three, considering that this was your time."

"_Well, I guess it could be worse,"_ Kiyoshi thought to himself, even though he wasn't too pleased with the news. He looked back at everyone and saw that Tsunade wasn't among them anymore; now she was behind him and was getting ready to take off his shirt. Kiyoshi quickly jumped away from her; she had gotten a little too far across his comfort zone.

Tsunade sighed in exasperation as she talked to him as calmly as she could. "Now that we solved your voice problems, I have to take one last look at your wounds." Kiyoshi looked a little anxiously at the chunins and back at Tsunade; he gripped a little tightly on the bandages on his arm. She stared a little wonderingly at him but then she understood why he was uncomfortable. She smiled slightly at him and then slowly turned to the chunins. "Everyone, you need to get out."

**1.5 nano seconds later **

"AAAHHH!" Before anyone had time to take in what Tsunade had told them, Naruto and the rest of the chunins were thrown out into the hallway. "Hey, how come we can't stay in? It's not like he's a girl," Naruto shouted angrily, walking toward the door and placing his ear on it. A fox-like grin spread across his face when no one came and he began to reach for the doorknob.

"DON'T YOU DARE, NARUTO." Right at those words, Tsunade's fist came through the door and sent Naruto flying into a wall. Ever single one of the chunins had some sweatdrops slowly falling down; maybe they should wait until she said it was okay.

**Back in the room**

Kiyoshi watched as Tsunade patched up the wall and turn back to him, smiling coaxingly. "Now, then let me see your wounds," Tsunade said simply as she helped Kiyoshi take off his shirt. Both sat on the bed as she put some kind of ointment over his pervious injures, probably the same one that had been used on him. It was silent as the process repeated; Tsunade would apply more ointment to Kiyoshi and rewrap the bandages over the deep cut and Kiyoshi would sit meekly still as she did this. "You didn't want them to see your scars did you," Tsunade had asked after a while. Tsunade had noticed them while she had to treat his wounds during the time he had been unconscious; it seemed as though they had been on him for a while. Kiyoshi, of course, didn't know how he could respond to her question. "Nod if it's a 'yes'; shake your head if it's a 'no'," she advised him, though it also managed to sound like an order.

Kiyoshi just nodded; it's not like he had anything to hide. Well, except for the fact that he came from another world.

"I see…" Tsunade paused for a moment but soon continued. "Did you get it in an accident?"

Kiyoshi shook his head.

"Did you hurt yourself on purpose?"

Kiyoshi looked at her like she was crazy and shook his head again.

"Did a family member hurt you?"

Kiyoshi looked alarmed and shook his head vigorously; the only family member he had ever really known was his grandfather, and he was a gentle, caring man. There was his mother…but… he looked sadly at the ground and shook his head again.

Tsunade noticed the sudden sadness that came from that nodded, but decided not to pry into that matter. "Do you know how you got those wounds at all?"

Kiyoshi shook his head for the fourth time.

Tsunade looked wonderingly at him as she finished tying all the bandages. "Do you have any family we can find?" Kiyoshi's tormented face was enough to tell her his answer. "Hmm…Normally, I would have to cast you of here; you did come in without permission, after all." Tsunade smiled a little when she saw him become tense. "…But you're in no condition to be out on your own at the moment. I let you stay here for the time being; you don't seem to harmful anyway." She gave him a warning glare as she continued. "Don't think that this means you're off the hook; you'll have to prove that you are someone that can be trusted. If you do, I'll let you stay; if you cause trouble, like getting into fights, then I'll have to kick you out, wound or no wound." Kiyoshi looked straight at her eyes and nodded in agreement; this reaction pleased Tsunade. "Well, now that we have an agreement, why don't you meet the people who will be keeping an eye on you…"

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**FINALLY! Sheesh, you all don't know how tried I am from writing all of this! So all I got to say is Hop you read, please review, and thank the people who had the time to review! Bye!**

**Kiyoshi: Stop being lazy! At least let me introduce the next chapter!**

**ID sighs: Okay, go ahead, I guess.**

**Kiyoshi: Please read again for the next chapter, "A Broken Heart that Heals".**

**ID: SNORE.**

**Kiyoshi covers ID with Blanket: Wow, she really is tried. Well, just come back when she's awake and writing another chapter.  
**


	4. A Sign of Hope

**Wow...I REALLY have to start updating my things a whole lot faster. But i really am only human. And I'm REALLY surprised that people actually looked at my story! Do you know how hard it can to make a OC story that someone will actually glance!? Thank you all for the feed back. ANd THANK YOU for telling me the names of the ramen shop owners! Now ignore my rambling and please continue on!**

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Chapter 3: The Sign of Hope

Tsunade opened the door, only to have all the chunin fall right into the room. A huge sweat drop fell down from Kiyoshi's head; were they really that interested in him? Tsunade looked a bit amused. "Looks like you guys just couldn't wait could you?" All the chunins, along with a bruised Naruto, gave her sheepish grins. Tsunade smiled slightly and pointed toward Kiyoshi. "Since you're all so eager on seeing him, why don't you introduce yourselves? I'm sure he'd like to know who will be keeping an eye on him." Naruto eagerly waved his hand in the air, jumping up and down as though he wanted to be first to play with a new toy. "Yes, you can tell him who you are first, Naruto," She told the eager chunin.

"_**That boy is like a puppy…on second thought, make that a baby kit,"**_ Akari commented to Kiyoshi in his thoughts. Kiyoshi chuckled silently at the tiger's remark, but gave his full attention to Naruto, who seemed excited about introducing himself. "Hi, my name is Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna be Hokage one day, Believe it!"

Kiyoshi smiled a little at him; he figured Naruto was going to say that. Still, what's life without having a few goals for the future?

Naruto looked pleased with Kiyoshi's reaction. "So what's your name, Tiger guy?"

Kiyoshi raised a questioning eyebrow at him. _"Tiger Guy?"_ his expression to ask Naruto.

Sakura hit Naruto over his head. "Baka, He can't do that; he lost his voice remember?"  
Naruto looked from Sakura back to Kiyoshi. "I don't think he like what you said, Sakura." When she looked at him confused Naruto pointed to a VERY aggravated Kiyoshi. Sakura was surprised when she he noticed his eyes went a sort of grayish color. Then, without much warning Kiyoshi sped off his bed and grabbed his sword, which was hanging on a nearby chair. "Whoa Tiger Guy! You can't attack Sakura just 'cause you're angry," Naruto said in alarm as he stood quickly in front of Sakura.

He looked at Naruto a little surprised, unsheathing his katana in process. He began to walk toward a wall.

Sai looked up from his sketch for a moment. "I don't think he has intentions of harming anyone." He showed his usual fake smile to Kiyoshi. "Why don't you show us your art?"

Kiyoshi smiled once again; he was impressed that Sai was able to figure out what he was up to. He turned back to the wall and slowly moved his sword in a motion that formed a new moon; his eyes were closed as he began to concentrate. He was motionless for a few seconds when he suddenly, out of the blue, he swept his sword in a graceful yet fierce carving motion. But in just a few seconds, he stopped and was motionless once again.

"….So what happens now," Kiba commented after a few minutes.

Kiyoshi smiled ever so slightly and put his sword back…right as the wall began to show the marks of his blade. It spelled out one simple thing.

_**Kiyoshi.**_

All the chunin stared at the wall in amazement. The way he left his mark and the unique style of this 'art', as Sai had called it, was really interesting. Shino seemed quite fascinated in the writing himself. He pushed up his sunglasses and looked away from the wall for a moment. "I will assume that is your name."

Kiyoshi nodded truthfully.

Shino looked back at the wall and continued to talk. "But I will also assume that you've done this to threaten people." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

Kiyoshi hesitated but slowly nodded in the end.

"Why would you want to threaten people," Kiba spoke.

Kiyoshi paused for a moment and thought about it. Then he put both of his hands behind his head; he looked at the chunins expectantly.

"Good choice of words," Shikamaru commented. He noticed the other looked a little confused. "He's speaking using his body and hand gestures. I guess he's going to use that to communicate with us until he gets his voice back."

"Well, what did he say," Kiba asked. All the chunins surrounded around Shikamaru eagerly to hear what Kiyoshi had told him.

"He said he's too lazy to answer."

All the chunins anime fell; Tsunade just had a huge sweat drop in disbelief.

"_Well, looks like Shikamaru will be my translator for a while. But how am I gonna communicate with the others,"_ Kiyoshi thought to himself questioningly. He closed his eyes and softly began to trace the yin-yang symbols on his amulet as he began to think. The Chunins found this a little familiar and looked right at Shikamaru.

"Don't look at me; I didn't teach him to do that."

The chunins looked back at Kiyoshi, who was now staring at Naruto. He placed three of his fingers on his cheek and moved them sideways. Naruto looked at him in confusion. Kiyoshi silently sighed, pointed at Naruto, and did the motion again. He just still looked at Kiyoshi blankly. Kiyoshi hung his head in exasperation for a moment and then looked at Sakura. _"Can you understand what saying," _He thought as his attention focused on her now. Kiyoshi repeated his steps, pointing at Naruto and then made that same cheek motion.

Sakura looked at him in just as much confusion as Naruto; was he trying to tell Naruto something? "Can you do that again," She asked him. Kiyoshi obliged and repeated the process. Sakura watched his motion carefully. It was odd; it looked like he was making whisker marks on his cheek. Whiskers…that's it! Sakura couldn't help but laugh.

Naruto was caught off guard by this. "What? What's so funny?"

Sakura stopped laughing and pointed at Naruto. "He's making a hand sign for you! See? He's making whiskers, like the ones on your face," she explained as she got Kiyoshi to repeat the sign.

Naruto smiled widely. "So this means me," He asked Kiyoshi as he copied the sign excitedly.

Kiyoshi nodded and did the sign again.

Naruto began to jump up and down happily. "Hah, he gave me my own sign, Believe it! And you guys didn't even get one!" He looked at Kiyoshi, who had slapped his head with the palm of his hand. "What?"

"The others didn't introduce themselves; that's why he hasn't given them hand signs." Tsunade looked to the rest of the chunins. "I'm guessing he wants a way to tell you all apart with signs. So who's next?"

Sakura went forward and smiled sweetly at Kiyoshi. "Hi, I'm Sakura. You might not know me, but I'm the one who has been helping Tsunade gather herbs for the poison that was in you."

Kiyoshi bowed thankfully.

"You don't need to bow; I'm just happy I was able to help," Sakura said embarrassedly, shaking her hands in front of her. Kiyoshi's eyes turned light baby blue. That caught Sakura's attention completely. "Um, your eyes…why do they change color?"

Kiyoshi just shrugged; even he didn't know how it happened. It just…happened. He made his hand go the same way as Sakura's headband. He looked at her for approval; Sakura nodded yes.

Naruto came to Kiyoshi and held up a picture of him, Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke. "You see this guy here? Can you make him a sign too," He asked, pointed at the Copycat ninja.

"…_I feel like this is more of a game for them than anything else,"_ Kiyoshi thought tiredly. But he just put one hand over his right eye for Kakashi; that made Naruto crack up. Soon everyone was crowding Kiyoshi, introducing themselves and waiting for him to make a sign. Once he finished off with everyone, Tsunade got all their attention. "Okay, he's given you each hand signs, so now he has to choose a few for his teachers."

Kiyoshi's eyes turned lavender as he cocked his head in confusion.

"You have to learn how to control your chakra. If you plan on using any jutsus again, we have to get you through the basics first. Pick four teachers; we don't need too many people to train you," Tsunade added.

Kiyoshi nodded in understanding and thought about it. Then he made the whisker motion.

"So you want Naruto." Naruto jumped up in triumph.

Kiyoshi nodded at Tsunade and then did the headband sign.

"And Sakura." Sakura nodded to Tsunade in understanding.

Then Kiyoshi made his fingers make a triangle on each cheek.

Kiba grinned. "If you want me to train ya too, you have to let Akamaru come along. We're a dual package." He laughed when he watched the large Akamaru run over to Kiyoshi and give the new guy a slobbery lick. "Man, you must be one heck of an animal person! Akamaru already likes you!"

Kiyoshi smiled at Kiba as he gave Akamaru a few belly rubs; the dog was thumping his leg in the air, his tongue lopping out in pleasure. _"More than you know."_ Kiyoshi stopped for a moment and made swirls on both cheeks.

"You sure you want Choji? I think he'll be more interested in eating than training." Naruto's eyes suddenly brightened. "Oh, I see; you wanna know if someone that chubby can actually do jutsus!"

Choji punched Naruto right to the wall. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THE FAT COMMENTS!?" He turned to Kiyoshi, who was a little unnerved about Choji that close by to him. The guy was gigantic compared to Kiyoshi, who was a little shorter than Naruto. He knew Choji was a good guy and all…but if you were near a guy who not only seemed to be a giant but had the strength of one, you'd be a little unsure how to act toward a person like this. Still, to see that sort of power first hand; Kiyoshi was amazed. Choji noticed that look of admiration and was surprised. "You thought that was impressive?"

Kiyoshi nodded 'yes' quickly.

Choji scratched the back of his head and smiled a very huge, friendly smile. "Now I'm really flattered. No one's ever told me that."

"Don't get used to it then," Naruto piped up from behind him.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

Kiyoshi watched the two chunins fight again and then turned to Sakura. He walked up to her and tugged at her arm like a little kid.

Sakura understood what he had in mind, but looked him up and down for a moment. Then she shook her head no. "First we have to get you some clothes."

He motioned to the muscle shirt, the loose hospital pants, and then to the strips of cloth that covered over his arms, and his chest. This was fine enough for him; he was just training, not going some special formal party.

Sakura didn't look the least bit as satisfied as Kiyoshi. "That's only for the patients; you've already recovered. But we haven't gotten the blood out of your old clothes yet. We're going to get you some clothes," Sakura told him sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

Kiyoshi just shrugged casually and looked at all the guys. Then he looked right back at Sakura and slowly began to smile.

Every single guy saw that look on his face and began to protest at the very thought. There were a whole bunch of things said but the main thing Kiyoshi heard was "There is no way I'm sharing my clothes with another guy!"

Tsunade smiled wickedly at all the boy chunins. "He doesn't have any money; he's going to have to get clothes from someone. Oh, and this is an order; if you boys don't do this, you will have to do all my paperwork for 2 years."

The guys immediately shut up; Naruto shuddered at the memory of the paperwork. Kiyoshi just smirked and looked at all of them expectantly. Sakura stared disbelieving at this guy; he wasn't exactly what she would've expected. But he was definitely one thing; unpredictable. "C'mon, let's go get you clothes already," Sakura said impatiently as she literally dragged Kiyoshi away. The chunins followed right behind him as they headed for Naruto's house.

"_Akari, follow us. But stay hidden; I don't know how they'll react when they see you,"_ Kiyoshi instructed the white tiger.

"_**As you wish."**_ Akari stretched her body and then ran toward the building's shadow, disappearing in a matter of seconds. Kiyoshi sighed in relief and allowed Sakura to drag him the rest of the way to the house. Hey, he may know WHAT Naruto's house looked like, but he never expected to actually GO there…

**30 minutes later**

Kiyoshi lightly tugged at the edge of the navy blue vest with both of his hands. He was wearing a mix between all the ninjas boys' outfit. From the upper part of his body, he had Naruto's long-sleeved black shirt under Shikamaru's vest, which Kiyoshi was lucky enough to have in blue. Shino gave him a pair of black slacks that somehow managed to be Kiyoshi's size. He looked up to notice Sakura was staring at him. He made eye contact with her and his eyes turned lavender once again. She just looked away from him quickly.

"Hey Kiyoshi! Over here!"  
He looked way from Sakura to give his full attention to the person who was going to teach him first: Naruto. Kiyoshi could still feel that huge sweat drop on his head, remembering how it got decided.

Flashback

_Kiyoshi watched as Neji held out a few straws in his hand to the ninja. He got up with Akamaru and walked toward the jonin in confusion. _

"_They're going to decide who trains you by the longest stick." Neji saw Kiyoshi's expression and turned to the chunin. "You see; even he thinks this is stupid. Why don't we choose by ranking?"_

"_But then I'll be the last to train him," Naruto whined._

"_That's your fault for being a genin."_

"_Hey, that's not my fault! Just get the straws!"_

_Neji turned to Kiyoshi and shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I tried."_

_Kiyoshi sat right next to Akamaru and laid his head on the dog's side. Might as well just go with the flow…_

End of Flashback

The order of the results ended up being this:

1. Naruto

2. Choji

3. Kiba

4. Sakura

Kiyoshi could've sworn he saw Naruto hiding a long straw in his other hand when they all grabbed one. But he decided not to question it.

"Okay listen up, Kiyoshi! The first thing you have to learn is how to make copies of yourself!"

Sakura punched Naruto in the back of the head. "He has to learn how to control it first; moves come later!"

"But he used a jutsu; he should be fine!"

"He needs the most basic thing; even Kakashi would've made us do that!"

"Actually Naruto has a good point. For once anyway," A voice interrupted from right above Kiyoshi.

He looked up the tree above him and then placed his hand over his right eye while pointing at a branch. The very Copycat ninja that Sakura had mentioned was hanging upside down on a tree, reading Make Out Tactics.

The man noticed that Kiyoshi had one hand over his eye and smiled from under his mask. "Yes, I am Kakashi. So that must make you the new guy around here. It's Kiyoshi right? Nice to meet you."

Kiyoshi's eyes widened in surprise.

"I already know; I met with Lady Tsunade before I came here. She told me you can't talk and you have very little control over your chakra. From my point of view, I think you'll learn this very quickly; you seem smart enough." He leapt down from the tree and landed smoothly next to Kiyoshi and Akamaru. "But he seems more of the hand-on learner. Few examples and a small explanation might be all he needs to learn," He told everyone lazily and went back to his reading.

Naruto smiled triumphantly. "Okay Kiyoshi, watch this! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Kiyoshi stared intently at the hand signs Naruto did and was soon surrounded by 50 Narutos. All of them were grinning and seemed quite proud of themselves.

Choji placed his bag of chips down and got ready to go. "If you think what I did in the hospital was impressive, check this out!" Choji, in a matter of seconds, made his arms as large as tree trunks and knocked down 40 of the Naruto clones.

"Jeez, you're all a bunch of amateurs." Kiyoshi turned his attention away from Choji's display of strength and looked at a smirking Kiba. "If you really want to see something impressive, then look what we can do!" Kiba called over Akamaru, who turned into a beast-like from with Kiba. The two spun around into their own types of tornadoes and made holes in nearby trees, the ground, and almost hit the other Chunins.

Kiyoshi was very interested in this jutsu. _"Hey, Akari, can we do that too?"_

"_**Do I look like a dog!?...and maybe; you still need to learn about chakra."**_

Kiyoshi understood that much and looked at Sakura expectantly.

"Um Kiyoshi, I'm only going to explain how it works."

Kiyoshi sat himself down and focused his attention to the last teacher.

"Okay then, listen up 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Your Chakra is like your life energy. Thing is, you can control it to enhance your abilities, use elemental attacks, or do genjutsu or ninjutsu. We'll teach you that stuff next time. But the main thing to remember is not to use too much of it. You can end up dying from chakra exhaustion. All I want you to do is climb a tree."

Kiyoshi found this effortless; he always climbed trees around his old home.

"With your feet."

That didn't make it easy anymore. Kiyoshi looked at Sakura as though he was expecting a joke.

Sakura focused her chakra to her feet and then began to walk up the tree. "You see? Just focus it to your feet. It's all about feeling that energy and directing it anyway you want. I know it might take you a while-" Sakura stopped when she felt someone walking alongside her. She turned her head to see that Kiyoshi was right next to her, white chakra flowing on his feet. The surprise made Sakura lose focus and the chakra from her feet went away. Luckily Kiyoshi grabbed her by the hand. He was still a little shaken from the fight wounds, making it hard on him to focus his chakra and hold on to Sakura at the same time. There was only one thing to do. Kiyoshi released his chakra flow from his feet and fell along with Sakura. He took the impact though; Kiyoshi had made sure that he was at the bottom of Sakura's body. He winched a bit from the impact, but he was lucky enough to have Akamaru react as quickly as he did, catching the two. So the landing was okay. He opened one eye to look at Sakura and sighed; she was okay. She got off him quickly.

"Th-Thank you Kiyoshi," Sakura mumbled.

Kiba had been watching Kiyoshi that whole time and finally spoke. "Well, it's official; he's nothing like Sasuke."

Kiyoshi's eyes widened in surprise and then glared. He never liked being compared to anyone.

Naruto was also glaring, but for a whole different. "Why are you bringing him up!?"

The Inuzuka boy looked at him boredly. "I heard everyone trying to guess what this guy is really like. And I'm just stating my opinion: He's nothing like him. Do you really think that Sasuke would've showed he was worried about either of you guys?"

That did it; Naruto gritted his teeth and summoned more of his clones, each holding a kunai in their hands. Kiba growled and brought Akamaru forward, ready to give Naruto the challenge of his life. Sakura and Choji immediately went over to try and break up the fight. But because they were so focused on their two friends, neither of them noticed Kiyoshi walking away. Akari followed him from the shadows, not saying a word. Just by a glance to his face, anyone would know that the young boy was upset…

It took everyone a while to separate the fight, and by then, they noticed the disappearance of the voiceless newcomer. The Konoha ninjas were very alarmed when they noticed the lack of one student. They called over their friends and looked for Kiyoshi everywhere. But Dusk soon came and not a single trace of him was. Kakashi hadn't helped any of them; he just continued to read his book. When he saw the large group come back, he didn't even glance up. "So, you guys didn't find him?"

"Well, if you were helping us, we might've found a clue already," Naruto exclaimed angrily.

Kakashi just turned a page in his book. "I thought he could use some time on his own. You all did insult him pretty badly back there."

"We didn't insult him!"

"Yes you did, without realizing it seems." He went to the next page and still didn't look at the chunins as he continued to talk. "Look at it through his eyes for a second. Sasuke is basically a ninja who betrayed his own village for power. I know you don't want to think about it that way, but that's how the news was spread around. Even if he didn't come from a well known village, that doesn't mean he hasn't heard about it somehow."

Sakura could see where this was going. "So when we compared him to Sasuke-"

"You pretty much said he is like a traitor." For the first time, Kakashi finally closed his book. He gave all the chunins a serious look and said- "Well, I'm getting hungry; let's go get some ramen."  
Everyone fell in disbelief. "How can you think of ramen when Kiyoshi is wandering around the place without a clue in the world," Naruto shouted angrily.

Then everyone's stomachs growled in unison.

"Your stomachs are telling me something else." Kakashi didn't say another word, and all the chunins gave in, following right behind him. Everyone was a little quiet as they sat and waited for their ramen.

"How are gonna find Kiyoshi? It's almost night already," Choji said.

"Hey Kiba, how about we use Akamaru to track him," Naruto suggested.

"That would've worked. But we don't have anything that has Kiyoshi's scent on it."

Shikamaru seemed to be more focused on the person who was coming to give them their order. "I don't think we should look for him anymore."

Naruto sighed. "I guess we can ask Granny for some help."

Kiyoshi gave the discouraged Naruto his order of ramen.

"Thanks Kiyoshi." He began eating. He started slurping up the broth…and then he spit it out. "KIYOSHI!?"

It was Kiyoshi alright. Aside from the change of clothes for the ramen service, there was no mistaking him at all. The young newcomer's eyes turned lavender for the third time in the whole day as he nodded to confirm it was him. _"Why are they so surprised,"_ He thought to himself.

"_**Well, you did leave without telling anyone,"**_ Akari told him from a distance.

Kiyoshi had forgotten about that.

"Hey Kiyoshi! Can you help Ayame with the rest of the orders?"

Everyone watched dumbfounded as the young boy went to the back and came out again with everyone else's orders, along with the ramen owner's daughter. Shikamaru ate casually. "So you knew he was here the whole time," he asked, eyeing Kakashi.  
"Oh course I did," The man answered.

"Then why didn't you tell us in the first place!?" Kiba and Naruto shouted angrily.

"It was fun watching you guys panic. And it's a lesson not to take your eyes off him even for a second. He's like a cat; he'll just come and go when he pleases."

Kiyoshi obviously liked that cat reference since he started to laugh silently. That wasn't the first time he had been told that!

Sakura looked at Kiyoshi. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Kiyoshi pointed at his apron and the bowl of ramen, as if it should've been obvious.

"No, I mean WHY," Sakura groaned.

"We actually found him wandering around pretty lost. So we took him into the shop. But the boy couldn't still, and next thing you know, he started helping us serve customers." Ichiraku patted Kiyoshi's head and smiled broadly. "He's a really hard worker, and everyone likes the ramen he makes. I just might let him work here part-time. After I get the Hokage's permission, of course."

Kiyoshi didn't mind that idea. At least it gave him something to do until he could find out how to get back home. Kiyoshi then remembered the reason he had went off. He began to dig through his apron's pocket and placed the cherry blossom bud in front of everyone. He beamed in self-satisfaction.

Everyone else…was lost. "Um, that's nice Kiyoshi."

The young newcomer heard the confused lameness in all their voices tone. They didn't get it. He turned to Shikamaru and did a few hand signs. Not that he knew that many. All he could sign out was 'hope', 'endless', and 'determination'. The lazy boy nodded with a small smile. "Hey, Naruto. Just take it. It's a gift from him to you and Sakura."

The two friends couldn't understand the meaning of it. But Sakura placed it carefully in her edic bag. "Do you know what he's saying," She asked Shikamaru.

"I think I do," he told her very slowly "but it might sound better if he told you himself. When get his voice back anyway." Shikamaru turned to Kiyoshi. "We should take you to Lady Tsunade now, huh?"

The silent boy nodded in agreement. After everyone else was done with their food, he obediently followed them back to the Hokage Mansion…

Tsunade had closed her eyes in thought. So Kiyoshi needed a place to stay. Somewhere where he could be watched and kept out of trouble. "Huh, I didn't really think about that, til you told me kid." She let out a hearty laugh as Shikamaru just stared at her, with a huge sweatdrop. The Hokage quickly became serious and looked at Kiyoshi. "But you left without permission, didn't you?"

The glare she gave him was enough to send a chill down Kiyoshi's spine. But he stood his ground and nodded truthfully.

"You do realize that you just used your first strike. Two more and I'll have to get rid of you."

Kiyoshi slowly nodded.

Sakura eyes widened. "Wait, it wasn't his fault! We weren't keeping a close enough eye on him!"

Tsunade didn't budge. "He was fully aware of the deal. And he left understanding the consequence. So he's going to take full responsibility."  
Kiyoshi nodded in agreement with the Hokage. He turned to the two guilty looking members of Kakashi's squad and nodded to them in reassurance. In his eyes, he would just keep out of any more trouble for the time being. As long as time let him anyway.

"So where is he going to stay?"

Tsunade looked at Kiyoshi. "I think he should be the one to decide where he'll go."

Everyone's attention was focused on Kiyoshi as he lifted his hand and…

* * *

Man...it's hard to find the time to send my story when my internet sucks

**Kiyosh**i: Then take a break already!

**ID**: NEVER!! (Falls asleep)

**Kiyoshi**: What a crazy person. Well, come back when she adds the next chapter. It'll be when I learn more ways to defend myself in more way than one. Oh, and Inner Dragon would like some thoughts on whose house I should stay at soo...open to opinions


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